How to speak and write correctly

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was swept along.
"Going into the store the roof fell" can be taken that it was the roof which was going into the
store when it fell. Of course the meaning intended is that some person or persons were going
into the store just as the roof fell.
In all sentence construction with participles there should be such clearness as to preclude all
possibility of ambiguity. The participle should be so placed that there can be no doubt as to
the noun to which it refers. Often it is advisable to supply such words as will make the
meaning obvious.
BROKEN CONSTRUCTION
Sometimes the beginning of a sentence presents quite a different grammatical construction
from its end. This arises from the fact probably, that the beginning is lost sight of before the
end is reached. This occurs frequently in long sentences. Thus: "Honesty, integrity and
square-dealing will bring anybody much better through life than the absence of either." Here
the construction is broken at than. The use of either, only used in referring to one of two,
shows that the fact is forgotten that three qualities and not two are under consideration. Any
one of the three meanings might be intended in the sentence, viz., absence of any one quality,
absence of any two of the qualities or absence of the whole three qualities. Either denotes one
or the other of two and should never be applied to any one of more than two. When we fall
into the error of constructing such sentences as above, we should take them apart and
reconstruct them in a different grammatical form. Thus, "Honesty, integrity and square-
dealing will bring a man much better through life than a lack of these qualities which are
almost essential to success."
DOUBLE NEGATIVE
It must be remembered that two negatives in the English language destroy each other and are
equivalent to an affirmative. Thus "I don't know nothing about it" is intended to convey, that I
am ignorant of the matter under consideration, but it defeats its own purpose, inasmuch as the
use of nothing implies that I know something about it. The sentence should read "I don't
know anything about it."
Often we hear such expressions as "He was not asked to give no opinion," expressing the very
opposite of what is intended. This sentence implies that he was asked to give his opinion. The
double negative, therefore, should be carefully avoided, for it is insidious and is liable to slip
in and the writer remain unconscious of its presence until the eye of the critic detects it.
FIRST PERSONAL PRONOUN
The use of the first personal pronoun should be avoided as much as possible in composition.
Don't introduce it by way of apology and never use such expressions as "In my opinion," "As
far as I can see," "It appears to me," "I believe," etc. In what you write, the whole composition
is expressive of your views, since you are the author, therefore, there is no necessity for you
to accentuate or emphasize yourself at certain portions of it.
Moreover, the big I's savor of egotism! Steer clear of them as far as you can. The only place
where the first person is permissible is in passages where you are stating a view that is not
generally held and which is likely to meet with opposition.
SEQUENCE OF TENSES
When two verbs depend on each other their tenses must have a definite relation to each other.
"I shall have much pleasure in accepting your kind invitation" is wrong, unless you really
mean that just now you decline though by-and-by you intend to accept; or unless you mean
that you do accept now, though you have no pleasure in doing so, but look forward to be more
pleased by-and-by. In fact the sequence of the compound tenses puzzle experienced writers.
The best plan is to go back in thought to the time in question and use the tense you would then
naturally use. Now in the sentence "I should have liked to have gone to see the circus" the
way to find out the proper sequence is to ask yourself the question what is it I "should have
liked" to do? and the plain answer is "to go to see the circus." I cannot answer "To have
gone to see the circus" for that would imply that at a certain moment I would have liked to be
in the position of having gone to the circus. But I do not mean this; I mean that at the moment
at which I am speaking I wish I had gone to see the circus. The verbal phrase I should have
liked carries me back to the time when there was a chance of seeing the circus and once back
at the time, the going to the circus is a thing of the present. This whole explanation resolves
itself into the simple question, what should I have liked at that time, and the answer is "to
go to see the circus," therefore this is the proper sequence, and the expression should be "I
should have liked to go to see the circus."
If we wish to speak of something relating to a time prior to that indicated in the past tense we
must use the perfect tense of the infinitive; as, "He appeared to have seen better days." We
should say "I expected to meet him," not "I expected to have met him." "We intended to visit
you," not "to have visited you." "I hoped they would arrive," not "I hoped they would have
arrived." "I thought I should catch the bird," not "I thought I should have caught the bird." "I
had intended to go to the meeting," not "I had intended to have gone to the meeting."
BETWEEN AMONG
These prepositions are often carelessly interchanged. Between has reference to two objects
only, among to more than two. "The money was equally divided between them" is right when
there are only two, but if there are more than two it should be "the money was equally divided
among them."
LESS FEWER
Less refers is quantity, fewer to number. "No man has less virtues" should be "No man has
fewer virtues." "The farmer had some oats and a fewer quantity of wheat" should be "the
farmer had some oats and a less quantity of wheat."
FURTHER FARTHER
Further is commonly used to denote quantity, farther to denote distance. "I have walked
farther than you," "I need no further supply" are correct.
EACH OTHER ONE ANOTHER
Each other refers to two, one another to more than two. "Jones and Smith quarreled; they
struck each other" is correct. "Jones, Smith and Brown quarreled; they struck one another" is
also correct. Don't say, "The two boys teach one another" nor "The three girls love each
other."
EACH, EVERY, EITHER, NEITHER
These words are continually misapplied. Each can be applied to two or any higher number of
objects to signify every one of the number independently. Every requires more than two to be
spoken of and denotes all the persons or things taken separately. Either denotes one or the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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